After a trip to IKEA, we visited Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton today. Being an 80+ degree sunny Saturday in Washington, it was CROWDED! Most of the parking lots were full, although we finally caught a car leaving towards the end of the park. Beautiful water. Fun to watch the boats. Lots of grass for children to run in. We didn't make it to the beach area, but it looked crowded and the sand volleyball courts and playground were busy, at least what we could see from the car. There was a nice walking trail and multiple pavilions for relief from the sun.
During our trip, my two-year old got to experience his favorite activity, throwing rocks in the water, so it made the trip worth it for us. My guess is that it might be a much quieter place on a weekend afternoon and children will have access to all of the amenities.
If you're in the area, definitely a cute park to visit. Noticed it was close to Target and other shopping and fast food options.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Kids Discovery Museum - Bainbridge Island, WA
Since we moved to Port Orchard at the end of May, I've wanted to visit Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu) in Bainbridge Island. The 10 a.m. opening time and hour-long drive to get there never worked well with my son's 11:30 a.m. naptime, but an earlier naptime the other day finally allowed us to make the trip.
Another motivation -- free admission. Like KidsQuest in Bellevue and other museums throughout the area, KiDiMu participated in the Blue Star Museums program offering free admission to military members and their dependents until Labor Day.
Was the trip worth it? Some construction on Bainbridge Island and my GPS directing me to the former location led to a negative start to the visit, but for a one time trip, I'd say it was okay.
First, the museum is small. Most of the attractions are on the first floor with a small craft room and wide motion space for connecting pipes and dropping balls on tracks on the second floor. There was also a small outdoor area with a bubble table and water table, although the toys were shared between the two.
My son enjoyed the electric car, although with only one, it was usually full.
He improved his financial education with the pretend ATM.
The suggested craft in the craft room was a tissue paper fish.
Another motivation -- free admission. Like KidsQuest in Bellevue and other museums throughout the area, KiDiMu participated in the Blue Star Museums program offering free admission to military members and their dependents until Labor Day.
Was the trip worth it? Some construction on Bainbridge Island and my GPS directing me to the former location led to a negative start to the visit, but for a one time trip, I'd say it was okay.
First, the museum is small. Most of the attractions are on the first floor with a small craft room and wide motion space for connecting pipes and dropping balls on tracks on the second floor. There was also a small outdoor area with a bubble table and water table, although the toys were shared between the two.
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| Electric Car for Exploring |
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| Shopping |
The grocery area had a lot of pretend fresh foods and canned goods. The realistic shopping carts were cute. However, since the downstairs area is open, you must watch out for racing shopping carts throughout the area.
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| Learning Financial Skills |
The suggested craft in the craft room was a tissue paper fish.All in all, we had an enjoyable trip, but it only lasted about an hour, which isn't long considering we spent 2 1/2 hours at the KidsQuest Museum in Bellevue earlier in the week. Not really worth the drive for nothing too outstanding, but nice to visit once. If you plan to take the ferry from Seattle, the new location is right near the ferry exit, making it very convenient.
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